


Check Thyself

by SolainRhyo



Series: Earthling-Verse [2]
Category: Transformers, Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: F/M, Is there such a thing as a fast-slow burn?, June's secret is out, Ratchet decides to indulge for once, Robot Sex, Rumor has it, Trying to keep chapters short(ish), by request, nurse and doctor, this one's for fun
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-30
Updated: 2019-11-04
Packaged: 2021-01-13 00:10:30
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21234884
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SolainRhyo/pseuds/SolainRhyo
Summary: What to do when the resident Autobot medic intuits June's attraction to him?





	1. Uh oh.

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Doki_Dakota](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Doki_Dakota/gifts), [missykitty](https://archiveofourown.org/users/missykitty/gifts), [SerendipitousSong](https://archiveofourown.org/users/SerendipitousSong/gifts).

> As requested by **eternal_magical_girl** and **Doki_Dakota**. Written purely for funsies and to prove that I can write chapters that are less than 8k words long. Special shout out to **SerendipitousSong** for being pretty much the best ever. Also, I wrote this while very tired so please excuse any errors, I'll fix them when I'm much more awaker.
> 
> This is a companion piece to my Ultra Magnus/Reader fic, [Burn a hole in the old grip of the familiar](https://archiveofourown.org/works/13436568/chapters/30794697)

It started when Ratchet said her name. It wasn’t the typical head nod, or the sometimes absent-minded “Nurse Darby” he murmured when their paths crossed during her brief visits to the Autobot base. It was the first full acknowledgment of her existence as a living being he'd ever given her and for more than one reason it left her shaken.  
  
Those reasons, were June forced to voice them aloud, stemmed from particular inclinations that she (a small and notably breakable human) had in regard to him (a large, ancient, enduring autonomous robotic organism). These were not inclinations others of her race were privy to, save one who had similar inclinations toward another autonomous robotic organism. This secrecy existed for good and numerous reasons; these reasons were responsible for her reaction when one day Ratchet stepped directly and deliberately into her path while she was on her way up to Agent William Fowler’s makeshift office.  
  
June looked up questioningly at the robot medic, eyes skimming over a red and white frame that, while more compact than that of some of the other Autobots, was pleasingly brawny in the way that only Cybertronians could be (and for June, in a way that only _this_ Cybertronian could be). Her gaze reached his face at the precise moment he dropped into a crouch and suddenly she found herself on the reciprocal end of a similar gaze. Ratchet had looked at her before, to be certain, but he’d never really looked at her like _this_… “this” quantifying something that she couldn’t really quantify other than it felt more intense and more personal than any other time he’d looked at her before.  
  
June was not beyond thinking that perhaps this oddity in his behavior was instead a matter of projection on her behalf, particularly given the nature of her recent drunken discussion with Earthling pertaining to all things sexual and how they could relate to Autobots. Certain Autobots. Certain Autobots like the one now in front of her. Best to err on the side of caution, she thought, and uttered a query vague enough that it couldn’t possibly be misconstrued for anything other than a simple question. “Yes?”  
  
Those eyes, a radiant blue that just happened to be her favorite color, narrowed slightly. It wasn’t an expression of ire or frustration; instead it came across as something searching, a focused beam of perception aimed directly at her. She was unprepared for that, unprepared for the odd way he greeted her, too—  
  
“June,” he said, somehow managing to drag out that one syllable as though sampling it, measuring it, and ultimately finding it worth savoring. _His_ voice saying _her_ name like that triggered an instant response and goosebumps rose on her arms. She was suddenly very thankful for the long sleeves on her jacket.  
  
“Ratchet?” she ventured, unable to keep a tentative note from her voice.  
  
“Are you well?” he asked.  
  
June blinked. Ratchet was not one to question after the day-to-day statuses of the humans he so often referred to as ‘underfoot.’ She could count on negative one hand the number of times he’d bothered to ask her anything even remotely like this. “I am,” she answered politely, striving to keep hidden the fact that his behavior had her entirely at a loss. “Thank you for asking. And you?”  
  
“Never better.” And it had to be her eyes attempting trickery, because that looked like a smile playing about the edges of his mouth. An intriguing smile. A playful smile. A smile that held the potential to be devastatingly charming if ever worn in full.  
  
It suddenly felt very much like June was participating in a game she’d never heard of before with rules both foreign and unfathomable. It felt, to put it bluntly, like Ratchet the grumpy Autobot medic was showing her the faintest flicker of flirtation. But that couldn’t be right, because he was Ratchet and she was June. But then again, Earthling had found her way into the affections of Ultra Magnus, so stranger things had happened, right? Ratchet was still watching her and she was watching him and goddamn if every minute, insignificant thing about him that she found attractive wasn’t magnified for her in that exact moment.  
  
_What the hell is happening right now?_ June’s thoughts were moving in interlocking loops of bewilderment and disbelief and she was smiling pleasantly at the medic while inwardly starting to panic. She had to say something, right? She couldn’t just edge backward toward the stairs and bolt up them while simultaneously berating her thumping heart into submission, could she? Fortunately, a well-timed reprieve presented itself.  
  
“June?” Bills’ voice, reaching her from above. An upward glance showed he was leaning over the mezzanine railing, brows raised expectantly.  
  
“Be right there!” she called back, both relieved and disappointed at the intrusion. She took one step back and then another until she felt a stair’s edge pressed against the back of her ankle. “I’m needed upstairs,” she told Ratchet, who merely inclined his head in understanding before getting to his feet. She watched as he walked across the cavernous room toward his lab. He paused mid-stride, however, half-turning his head to look over his shoulder to subsequently catch her staring at him. Her face reddened immediately with a potency to rival that of Earthling’s blushing abilities, flushed even further to see what was most _definitely_ a smile crease his face.  
  
June turned and (just barely) managed not to flee up the stairs.

  
**.x.**  



	2. The first step

Things were changing.

Ratchet was not fond of change. He was aware that it was inevitable (such is existence) and he’d learned to tolerate the alterations the eons tossed his way, albeit not without grumbling or some other outward show of irritation. It seemed, however, that since arriving on Earth, change was becoming more and more prevalent and to be frank (which Ratchet always was), he was tired of it. It was never just _one _thing—it was always a plethora of issues, a steady stream of crises that accumulated in a disaster, or a near disaster, or a something that fell within the realm of disaster. That was life for the Autobots. It was a known fact. If there wasn’t something wrong… well, something was wrong.

Yet another change was delivered with the introduction of Earthling. One more human to have to watch one’s pedes around was not something Ratchet needed, but he kept that thought to himself. Kind of. And then, of course, more changes: Earthling’s brother. Smokescreen’s arrival. Of the slightly more alarming variety: Knock Out’s defection. Earthling and Ultra Magnus’ relationship. The latter, though—well, after some thought (a lot of it) and some conversations with Optimus, he realized that maybe it wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened. Ultra Magnus, whom he’d known for almost as long as he’d known Optimus, endured his personal share of change with far more grace than Ratchet ever could. Indeed, the commander that had been for the most part of his life rigid and uncompromising seemed to have found some modicum of peace in a world that very rarely granted it to their kind. Earthling, frail and tiny and frankly irritating as she was, had managed to introduce a measure of serenity into Ultra Magnus’ life, a rare and elusive thing that Ratchet had considered as lost to the Autobots as Cybertron. Ultra Magnus had found contentment and as thankful for that as Ratchet was—and he _truly_ was—he was also envious. Not that he’d ever admit it, though.

One day Earthling began a line of questioning that at first seemed trivial but was not, and when Ratchet finally discerned exactly what she was getting at his first reaction was… well, he wasn’t certain what his reaction was. There was a healthy amount of confusion mingled with disbelief and underneath it all a ribbon of something he wasn’t going to name, because to name it was to give it substance. He throttled all of these things, firmly pushing them aside in order to be able to focus on those disasters he always expected, though they’d slowed somewhat in recent days. He left Earthling and returned through the ground bridge, determined to turn to work. Except—

His thoughts were rebelling. They didn’t want to center around things like how to maximize energy transfer to the ground bridge or ways to streamline the energon refinement process. They wanted to swirl firmly around the topic Earthling had tried so hard (and failed miserably) at subtly bringing to his attention: June Darby. While he clearly wasn’t the biggest proponent of mankind he had been forced to admit that of them all, June was by far the most tolerable. He’d attributed it to her maturity initially, but then came to understand through their interactions, limited though they were, that she was far more intelligent and reasonable than he’d ever thought to give her credit for. The skills of her profession were ones she wielded with insight and proficiency which he’d witnessed more than once, usually because Miko kept finding innovative ways to get hurt. It was professional respect, which was why one night when she’d happened by to pick up her son—a night that perhaps he’d indulged in high grade a little more than he should have, trying to keep the stress of everyday turmoil from throttling him—he relaxed enough to have an actual, free-flowing conversation. Topics that night varied and to be honest his recollection was a little fuzzy, but he remembered answering the bevy of questions she’d thrown her way and even volunteering some information that maybe he shouldn’t have, something about Cybertronian erogenous zones. _Anyway—_

That night had been a long time ago and honestly, he’d almost forgotten about it. Until now. Until Earthling’s not-so-cagey inquisition. Until it occurred to him that he didn’t just regard June Darby as human. He saw her as an equal and had for quite time. And from there, his insurgent thoughts spiraled in directions he wasn’t prepared for them to spiral to. Earthling and Ultra Magnus together presented possibilities previously unrealized to the Autobots as a whole; mass displacement had presented another. And Ratchet, grizzled and wearied veteran of a war older than Earth, was confronted with something he was in no way prepared for: he was curious. He was curious about interspecies relations, which he’d so recently researched and instructed Earthling about. He was curious about how such a thing would affect him. Moreover, he was curious about how he’d go about initiating something of that nature with June.

Too late he realized he’d given substance to those thoughts he’d tried so hard to banish and there was no going back now. So he kept ruminating on it and the more he did so, the more intrigued he became. The first step in this… _mission_ … was, he deduced, to make June aware that _he _was aware of how she felt. Which, as it turned out, was easier to do than he’d anticipated. It started the day he said her actual name for the first time, the day he’d caught her staring at him as he’d walked away. He made a concentrated effort to continue with his plan every time he saw her after that.

Raf provided him with an excuse for such an interaction on a rainy day when most the other Autobots were engaged in what Earthling had dubbed “Operation Energon.” The young boy, waiting around base for Bumblebee who was out on patrol, tripped while descending the stairs. His fall was not a long one (he’d stumbled on the second to last stair) and he managed to get up just fine while shooting a sheepish glance at Ratchet, but the Autobot medic wasn’t about to waste this opportunity.

“Remain still, Rafael,” he ordered as he approached. “Movement will aggravate your injury.”

“But I’m not—” Raf said as Ratchet scooped him up in one servo just to deposit him onto the mezzanine’s couch, “—injured.”

“Better safe than sorry,” Ratchet advised before turning. “I’ll contact Nurse Darby at once. She’ll want to take a look at you.”

“But Ratchet—!”

“Stay there.”

“June,” he said a minute later, contacting her through her mobile device, “Rafael has been injured.”

“_What?”_

Her volume and pitch almost made him wince. “I don’t believe it’s serious,” he rushed to reassure her. “But I think you’d better take a look at him.”

“What happened? Was it the Decepticons?”

“No, no, nothing like that. He simply fell down the stairs.”

“No, I didn’t!” Raf called out in the background. Ratchet gave him a look of mild warning.

“Can he walk?”

“I’m not certain. I thought it best to keep him immobilized.”

“Yes, that was smart. I’ll uh…” there was a flurry of voices in the background and then June spoke again, “I’ll be there right away. Keep him from moving too much.”

She disconnected the call and Ratchet allowed himself an inward smile.

**.x.**


	3. Wrong foot, right direction

“Where is he?” June demanded twenty minutes later, slamming her car door behind her as she dashed across the floor toward Ratchet.

“I’m up here,” Raf’s voice floated down from the mezzanine. She changed direction, heading for the stairs, but stumbled to a halt as Ratchet leaned down and extended his servo. Surprised, she hesitated for only a moment before hopping onto his palm, clinging to one of his digits as he lifted her to the mezzanine. She slid down upon reaching the destination, hastening over to Raf who was sitting on the couch with his hands folded in his lap.

“Where are you hurt, Raf?” June asked as she knelt in front of him.

“Uh,” he said, pushing up his glasses with one finger, “I’m not.”

June frowned, glancing at the Autobot medic over her shoulder. “You didn’t fall?”

“I did, but—” he paused, eyes flitting to Ratchet who was not in any way trying to warn the boy with his narrowed optics. When he continued his voice was quieter, tentative. “I’m not hurt?”

“Well, I’m going to take a look at you just to be sure. Okay?”

Raf nodded and June proceeded, running her hands down his arms, legs and sides, asking if he felt pain in any of them. The answer each time was a negative, and finally June rocked back on her heels. “I think you’re okay,” she said.

“That’s what I told him.”

June glanced back at Ratchet again, this time with a considering look. “I’m sure he just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I did,” the medic confirmed with a nod.

The sound of a vehicle on approach filtered to them through the base’s main entrance, a prelude to Bumblebee’s appearance. Raf, hearing the familiar sound, hopped off the couch. “Bee’s here to take me home,” he told June. “Can I go?”

She waved him off and he ran down the stairs, calling out to his Autobot guardian as he neared the bottom. June, after slanting Ratchet another speculative glance, followed him down at a slower pace. She paused midway, however, placing both hands on the railing and turning to the medic as Raf hopped inside of Bee and the scout headed right back out again.

“You knew he wasn’t hurt.”

Ratchet, who’d been (im)patiently waiting for her to descend before making his next move, was taken aback just a bit. Perhaps, he mused, he hadn’t been as crafty as he’d presumed when he’d haphazardly slapped this little plan together. He responded merely by arching his brow plating ambiguously. She waited a long string of seconds for him to say something and when he didn’t, her own brows arranged themselves into something akin to a scowl.

“Well?” she prompted.

“… My knowledge of human anatomy isn’t—”

“Yes it is.”

“I lack the expertise with—”

“No you don’t.”

A short silence fell, punctuated by June’s fingers tapping on the railing. “What’s going on, Ratchet?”

Well, this certainly wasn’t unfolding the way he’d anticipated. Still, she was right here in front of him and they were alone for the time being, so maybe it was time to abandon the indirect approach and opt to be more forthright.

“June.” he said, taking the one step forward he needed to be right in front of her. She had to crane her head backward in order to look up at him. “Are you attracted to me?”

_Fascinating, _he found himself thinking as her face immediately blazed a shade of red similar to his own. His fascination warped into concern as the color just as swiftly drained from her face, as her hands tightened on the railing, as her eyes widened to a frankly alarming size. It appeared she was swaying slightly; he reached down to steady her with one servo at her back. She was breathing fast, inhaling sharply through her nostrils.

“June?”

But she shook her head, eyes focused somewhere on the ground near his pedes. He waited for several nano-kliks, feeling an unwelcome swell of uncertainty as he did so, before he lifted his other servo and with two digits under her chin, gently tipped her head up. He’d hoped for an expression of yearning or something equally as encouraging; instead he found himself on the receiving end of a murderous glare. He yanked his servo away.

“Earthling?” she asked. It was remarkable how she could make one word sound so very profane.

Ah. Her fury wasn’t directed at him, then. Or was it? He wasn’t entirely sure. He deliberated denying it but discarded the notion lest he enrage her even further. “Yes.”

“I’m going to _kill _her.”

“June—”

“_I’m going to kill her!”_

“I—”

But she wasn’t having it, instead jabbing up a finger to shush him. Ratchet, having never been shushed before, fell silent in astonishment. June was gripping the railing so tightly that her knuckles were white and she was uttering a steady stream of human expletives too fast for him to follow, though he was able to make out a word or two. He wanted to interrupt the tirade but didn’t, waiting instead until she ran out of breath, letting her head hang as she sucked in a deep breath.

“So…” he ventured despite being fairly certain that he shouldn’t, “that’s an affirmative?”

She laughed, a short, crisp peal that threw him for another loop. He’d expected a denial or an other outburst or—well, he didn’t really know, honestly, because in the span of the last few kliks she’d shown so many different emotions that he was at a loss. Apparently his current expression triggered another reaction in her because she kept laughing, shaking her head. As she trailed off into chuckles she shrugged. “Yes, Ratchet,” she admitted, giving him a smile that had an abrupt and unexpected effect on the rotation speed of his fans, “it’s an affirmative.”

**.x.**

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading. <3 Not sure how often I will update but I will.
> 
> Next chap of "Burn a hole" is almost done.


End file.
